The Duke of Cambridge donned a biker’s jacket for a spin on a powerful Triumph during a trip to the bike maker’s north Leicestershire factory.

Prince William, who has owned two Triumphs through the years, took the stunt in his stride, commenting at the end “very nice, but not long enough”.

Earlier he had been shown around the Hinckley factory by Triumph chief executive Nick Bloor, taking in the assembly line and a new £6 million paint shop which will open this spring.

Along the way he chatted to production staff and was invited to stick a Triumph emblem on the engine block of a part-built Tiger 1200.

Guess who? It's the Duke of Cambridge, who donned a biker’s jacket for a spin on a 1200cc Triumph

The brand celebrated 115 years of motorcycle building last year and now builds around 67,000 bikes a year, which are sold in 57 countries across the world.

As well as a chance to see how the bikes are made and to celebrate British manufacturing, he was also there to officially open the Triumph Motorcycles Factory Visitor Experience – a free to enter exhibition which showcases a collection of Triumph’s historic and modern achievements in motorcycle design, engineering, and racing.

He was particularly excited to touch the bike Steve McQueen famously ploughed into a barbed wire border fence in the 60s war movie The Great Escape.

The Duke said: “That’s amazing – to actually do the jump on this bike back then was a big risk”.

Staff lined the way as the Duke then unveiled a commemorative petrol tank, hand-painted with the Union flag and the words HRH The Duke of Cambridge KG KT across it.

Prince William admires Steve McQueen's triumph from The Great Escape

During the unveiling the Duke singled out paint shop team leader Tony Hobbs, who had spent 20 hours painstakingly working on the tank.

Afterwards Tony said: “I painted it all by hand – it was nerve-racking but well worth it in the end.

“I’ve been heavily involved in the new paint shop so it was hard to fit the time in.

“It was amazing when he spoke to me, and I love the finished product which will stay in the visitors centre for everybody to see.”

Someone else the Duke singled out was design team leader Dave Hall, who he suggested must be a keen biker because of his biker-style beard.